JD Vance is at a luxury Swiss resort, and British intelligence has questions. The US Vice President’s presence in Zermatt, a playground for the global elite, coincides with what Whitehall sources describe as ‘substantive, informal’ contacts with Iranian representatives. The scope of this backchannel remains unclear. Downing Street was not briefed.
This is classic Trump-era freelancing. Vance, the President’s loyal attack dog, has long argued for a more transactional approach to Tehran. Now, he’s reportedly in a hotel suite with a direct line to the Supreme Leader’s office, while UK diplomats are left reading tea leaves.
One FCDO official put it bluntly: ‘We’re supposed to be the special relationship. But this feels like being the last one told about the party.’ The official spoke on condition of anonymity, which tells you everything about the nervousness.
The optics are horrendous. A Republican VP hobnobbing in a resort that charges £1,000 a night for a room, while the Treasury is slashing aid budgets. Backbench Labour MPs are already sharpening their knives. ‘If Vance is cutting a deal that undermines the JCPOA or UK interests,’ one shadow minister said, ‘there will be a reckoning.’
But the real question is what’s being discussed. Is it a narrow deal on prisoner swaps? A broader reopening of nuclear talks? Or something darker – perhaps a quid pro quo involving Iran’s oil and US elections? British intelligence has been left to ‘triangulate’ from open sources and chit-chat with Swiss counterparts. It’s not a good look.
The White House insists the trip is ‘personal’, that Vance is on leave. The Swiss resort confirms he’s booked under a pseudonym. But the presence of his national security advisor, plus a known Iran sanctions lawyer, suggests otherwise.
For Starmer’s government, this is a test. Keir has staked his foreign policy on ‘rules-based order’ and loyal alliance management. But if Vance is running his own diplomatic corps, those rules don’t apply. The PM’s spokesman offered a tight-lipped: ‘We are in touch with the US administration on a range of issues.’ Translation: We’re trying to find out what the hell is going on.
Expect this to dominate the lobby briefing tomorrow. And expect a lot of edgy questions about whether the UK still has a seat at the top table. The answer, right now, seems to be no.
